Carlos Rodon reacts to his Yankees debut as team loses vs Cubs: "Not the way I wanted to start"

The baseball world eagerly anticipated Carlos Rodon's debut in the Bronx ever since he inked his record-breaking contract with the New York Yankees in December of last year.

The 30-year-old made his debut after suffering a forearm strain that caused him to miss three months of action.

He made his first regular-season start on Friday since his final outing with San Francisco on September 29, 2022, when he struck out no less than 10 Colorado Rockies batters in six innings of scoreless relief.

Despite a strong start for the New York rotation, the offense was unable to support its starter as the Chicago Cubs defeated New York 3-0.

Rodon shared his thoughts after the game:

“It was nice to finally pitch in the pinstripes at Yankee Stadium, but not the way I wanted to start,” Rodon said.

Carlos Rodon's Yankees debut

In general, Rodon performed well on his Yankees debut. With a fastball velocity in the upper 90s, he fired a high fastball past Ian Happ to end a flawless first inning.

Chicago Cubs v New York Yankees

Rodon gave up two runs, one on a solo home run by Cody Bellinger and the other on an RBI single to right field by Nico Hoerner. After 5.1 innings and 69 pitches, manager Aaron Boone removed Rodon from the game.

Rodon's pitch count was lower, but it will likely increase with each start. Only two runs, four hits, two walks, and two strikeouts were all he gave up on the night.

“I think we were facing a better pitcher certainly than the numbers, but that said, I thought we had some pitches to do some things with,” Boone said.

“Some guys squared him up without much [to show for it]. … We all know we gotta do better than that and that’s on all of us.”

Rodon had previously played for the Chicago White Sox and San Francisco Giants. The White Sox selected Rodón in the first round of the 2014 MLB Draft. He debuted in the MLB in 2015. Notably, Rodón threw the White Sox's 20th no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians on April 14, 2021.

After the 2021 season, he became a free agent and joined the Giants. After one season, Rodón chose to opt out of his contract with San Francisco, and following the 2022 campaign, he signed a six-year deal with the Yankees.